Excerpt from THE KEEPER'S SECRET

I've visited many lighthouses, both here in NJ and elsewhere. Symbolically, lighthouses are a beacon of hope but until the advent of GPS, they were important navigational aids. In 1789, our Congress approved the Lighthouse Act, which was the first public works program in our country. 

When I wrote THE KEEPER'S SECRET, I intended for the lighthouse to be that symbolic beacon of hope for the hero and heroine. Below is a short excerpt from Chapter 7.

    Evie set the tray on a small table and poured the tea. After handing one mug to Bryce, she settled into the swing beside him.

    He rocked gently back and forth. "I’ll go slow so we won’t spill the tea," he reassured her.

    She closed her eyes, welcoming the warmth of the mug in her hands. The swing swayed rhythmically with the slight tap of Bryce’s feet. She sipped her tea, listened to the night sounds of the quiet street and tingled in awareness of the man beside her.

    "I’ll toss out some ideas." The rumble of his deep bass vibrated through her body.

    She assumed she would hear one of Bryce’s lectures. He harangued her on a regular basis during that last year of high school. A pang of regret pierced her. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t turn her from her wild ways.

    "Does the Lord test people?" he asked. "And if He does, am I getting an F?"

    Feeling uncertain and inadequate when it came to issues of faith, Evie wished Jessica hadn’t gone to sleep. "Life isn’t like school."

    "All right, let’s say it’s based on the point system and I’m getting close to the maximum number."

    "No. The Lord doesn’t hand out parking and speeding tickets. He doesn’t take away your license."

    "He puts you in everlasting pain."

    Evie winced. She’d questioned Jessica on almost that identical point. At least she knew the response to that one. "He loves you. He made you and wants you to spend eternity with Him. He’ll forgive you. He’ll never abandon you."

    "What if you lose your faith in Him?"

    "Because of your father?"

    "Not just my father." He put his feet down and stopped the swing. He lowered his head. "There’s more to it."

    She waited, but in the tense silence he didn’t seem to want to lay his soul bare. That might be a good thing because she didn’t know how she would handle it. Perhaps the tension of his job weighed on him.

    "Everyone doubts," she said after a few moments. "You must simply go on trusting the Lord and praying."

    "That doesn’t work." A touch of sorrow welled in his deep brown eyes as he leaned back, sliding one hand along the top edge of the swing. Warmth radiated off his skin, just inches from hers. "I thought, since I was a Christian, the Lord would make things easier for me. He hasn’t."

    "Sometimes the Lord has other plans. Better plans," Evie stumbled through an explanation.

    "I haven’t read the Bible in a long time, but last night I went through the Beatitudes. It didn’t help. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’...I thought that’s what I was...but I’m not...not by any stretch of the imagination."

    "You’re trying to be a peacemaker. That’s what counts." Evie’s throat ached. In doing his job, he’d put her in jail. She swallowed hard, but though her eyes grew misty, she must be brave. "The whole point of the Beatitudes is that the Lord promises a great reward in heaven, even if we have a tough time here on earth." Evie wished Bryce took his problem to Pastor Strauss. The pastor knew so much more about being a Christian than she ever would. "The Lord never promised that everything would be easy, but He did promise to be with us, each one of us, all the time."

    "The Lord does not send replies," Bryce muttered.

    "He does, but you have to listen."

    "I’ve dealt with people who claim to hear the Lord. They are always mentally unstable."

    Evie’s courage failed her.

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You can find  THE KEEPER'S SECRET at all the major ebook distributors. 

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Guest Post: HIDDEN DANGER by Gail Pallotta

 My guest today is award-winning author, Gail Pallotta. She is a wife, Mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. A 2013 Grace Awards finalist, she’s a Reader’s Favorite 2017 Book Award winner, a TopShelf 20
20 Book Awards Finalist and a Top Author pick. She’s published seven books, poems, short stories and several hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums. A people person, she enjoys connecting with readers. 

Gail's latest release is Hidden Danger.
What's it about? Check out the blurb below.

After Emily Hanover’s left standing at the altar in Blue Mountain, North Carolina, she goes to Sky High Campground to put her life back together. Because it’s February and few people come here this time of year, she’s alone on the premises. When noises in the middle of the night frighten her, she gathers her courage and peeks outside. A man carrying a body over his shoulder emerges from the dark shadows onto her front yard. Horrified, she collapses onto the floor. 

The next morning, she visits ex-military officer turned security guard, Nick Lancaster. He listens intently to Emily, but dismisses her claim of foul play as a hunter carrying a deer. Finally, after he sees a freshly dug hole in Emily’s yard and finds two more in the woods, he agrees—there’s suspicious activity. Then he and Emily embark on a mission exposing murder and a far-reaching sinister plot, neither suspecting danger can bring romance.     

Hidden Danger has been awarded a Top Author Certificate. Read their review at https://www.gailpallotta.com/this-and-that.html

Now for a taste of the book read the excerpt below!

Chapter One

Emily Hanover jumped and sat straight up in the bed.

She hadn’t been dreaming. There it was again, a scraping noise and banging outside the cabin. With a shaky hand she reached for her cell phone and the after-hours number for Larry, the security guard who checked her in at Sky High Campground. She stopped in mid-air. Thinking only of getting her life back together, she’d forgotten to charge her phone.

The clanging grew louder, more intense. You are our only visitor. Larry had told her. “Few people come to the North Carolina Mountains in January and February, so the managers take off. Another guard, Nick Lancaster who’s on break from college, will be in the office tomorrow.”

With a tremor running through her fingers, Emily plugged the phone into the charger. She flinched each time someone hit stone. With what? A shovel. Yes. It banged into a boulder and resounded in the wind howling around the corner of the house.

Quivering, she slid her feet to the floor. Another round of metal met granite. She raised a blind in the bedroom window, stared at the blackness outside, and let the blind drop. She could see no one. Yet, the shovel vibrations echoed. Whoever hit the rock was really angry. She chewed her knuckle. She’d make herself small and hide. She scooted under the covers and shook.

She had traveled here to renew her spirit in these awe-inspiring mountains. After Donnie West dumped her at the altar, she had yearned to rest and regroup at Sky High. A clank rang out, but this time it reverberated inside her. She would no longer lay here and let a trespasser ruin her vacation. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and forced her body up.

She started to turn on the lights. No. She pulled back her hand. Whoever was outside would see her. She snatched pepper spray and a flashlight from the nightstand and started to the country kitchen, nearly dropping the items as she crept down the hall.

Lord, please help me. First, Donnie. Now this. Please help.

As she peered out the small kitchen window over the sink, the shovel blasted into the silence again. She cringed. Only a person up to no good would invade someone else’s yard in the middle of the night.

She tiptoed past the dining area and the rock fireplace. Her stomach churned as she crossed the room. Finally, she reached the large sliding glass door in the living area. Careful not to touch the drapes, she peeked out the small crack between two panels. No one was there. Had the person outside left? Hope rippled over her. She waited to make sure though. A man with long hair passed outside on her porch. She yanked the drapes shut as tight as she could.

            He carried a body.

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Check the links to find out where you can get the book, visit Gail's website, Facebook page, and sign up for her newsletter. 

Buy Link for Hidden Danger: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDYC11RM

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